Gentlemen's Bluff
by merryfortune
Summary: To the victor of this card game, the spoils go but for now, there is stalemate disguised as goodwill towards the opponent.


**Gentlemen's Bluff**

 **:**

It began with the creeping sensation of realising that the pounding heart in his chest was not a signifier of hatred or mutual antagonism but something else. It continued on when the creeping sensation turned to sly glances and heartfelt musings. It ended with the discovery that these were states of emotional compromise

Akira Zaizen does not risk emotional compromise but with the company he unwittingly keeps, it is little wonder that he ended up with an attachment to her.

And him.

Both of them really.

But now look at him? This was too much happening at once. His heart had never thundered more in his chest than when the images of not one but two people flit to his mind in his more vulnerable and distracted moments. He was a family man and right now, the only family he needed was his sister and that was because she was already a handful by herself.

Although, don't read Akira wrong. He is quite relieved that she is safe and recovering well from her coma.

That put Shoichi in a similar position. Not quite, but similar. It was more akin to something of "hitting rock" bottom than anything else. He was a sappy kind of guy so he did sort of go around and think about that sort of thing everyone and a while. Who doesn't dream of a spouse and two-point-five kids?

Her probably. And him.

Her being Ema: Ghost Girl. Mischievous and enigmatic Ghost Girl. Realising that he was falling in love with her was not a low point for Shoichi; no, there was something sexy about falling for her due to her rocky status in the whole mess. She was the chaotic neutral, mercenary hacker whose motivations, and more importantly, loyalty, is tied to whoever can best compensate her for her time and energy spent.

No, it was falling in love with him that Shoichi considers his lowest point because he is the older brother of his ward's friend. That's just awkward. Made worse so than when he was a fool and didn't even realise the flushed face and sweaty palms were markers of infatuation rather than, well, antagonism.

Hey, listen, Shoichi didn't fall in love with him first after all. He met Ema face-to-face first, after all and had a real, non-hostile conversation with her first, after all. Then, as soon as it came to light between them that they were supposed to be opposite sides of the playing field, despite Ema's whimsical inclinations, something began to connect to them.

It was playful banter over intercoms. It was hands brushing over each other as they exchanged cash in hand and hot dogs. It was little things, teasing and compliments that seemed slightly exaggerated but were all true.

Unfortunately, Shoichi soon noticed that this connection he had with Ema - flirtatious, infatuated - was not something exclusive to him. He noticed it before he noticed what she was like alone. She and Zaizen clearly had some sort of buzz between them. During the business with Revolver and Blue Angel, Shoichi had become privy to a few conversations between Ghost Girl and Zaizen. And it didn't exactly take a genius to work out that the real reason that Zaizen was tagging along with Ema so much was because their relationship went far beyond "strictly" business.

Put the two of them in a room together and they would flirt like all hell. It was borderline disgusting how much public affection they could get away with due to it only being verbal. She played and played with him; bushing his buttons until he was blushing like a bride. Between Akira's incessant stammering and Ema's glittering, enchanted eyes, it was glaringly obvious that the two had romantic tension.

It was glaringly obvious to everyone but Zaizen.

Ema, however, was keenly in-tune with her emotions and that was why she is able to keep herself calm and in control of any and all situations. That was her key to success and usually, it works. She stays impartial so that when she eventually has to sell herself out and double cross, it doesn't hurt but when ensnared by curiosity, she remains that way until it's completely exhausted and sated.

It's fun to rile Akira up. It was something of a game given how dreary and dull of a man he could be. Like she had once thought him to be. Despite the stuffiness and up-tightness of his business persona, as a person - an actual person - he could be quite lovely. Charming, intelligent, and being naturally easy on the eyes with a big bank account was also attractive but mostly the , apparently, even listless teasing can turn to something else because she found herself thinking of him fondly all too often.

But then there was him.

Not Shoichi. His ward. The hacker known as Playmaker and through Playmaker, quite an interesting turn of events arose: she grew fond of the adolescent's caretaker. Tracking Playmaker down had been tricky but she wanted to ally herself with him and his friend lest working for SOL Technologies stopped working for her. It had been hard but she was a capable and masterful hacker; her love notes, little messages informing the pair of her hack and virus, upon tracing them did not go unappreciated.

It wasn't part of her plan though for that to become her order though. Those hot dogs were tasty and it all exceeded her plan. Shoichi was fun to be around. Not fun like Akira was fun but a different kind of fun that matched her own idea of what it would like to have someone who would unconditionally raise hell together. They got along well. Perhaps a little too long because what started off as a perfect fitting friendship with possibly mutual goals turned to a more romantic friction.

But hey, Ema wasn't complaining.

She was well aware of the unfolding chaos of romantic tension and was utterly delighted by it. She wasn't unused to ensnaring multiple people with her charms; even at once. Although, usually they were fragments who were uninvolved in each other and that, in itself, is a scam known as a "honeypot" or the like depending on what her goal for her seductions was. This wasn't a wholly new predicament for her although, she'd never wound up in anything quite like this before where all the links ran tight like a closed circuit. It was fascinating, the chemistry they all had together and what sort of lights lit up when they were all together.

It had been a long time since Ema had actually wanted to submerge herself in a little bit of emotional vulnerability. She felt like she could have that sort of relationship with both Akira and Shoichi. That was dangerous. She would admit that. Having feelings would ruin her reputation as a somewhat impish hacker who was available but not like that.

Though, to be honest, she didn't like letting herself be the goods on the open market. That was sort of a stall she would like to close to both Akira and Shoichi should they come to an agreement on price. Said price being that Akira handles their breakfasts and Shoichi handles their lunches and Ema would buy them dinner; so whatever that would finance like, that would be her price in all truth.

Oh, and maybe some not-so-stolen sleepy kisses before they split ways and return to their slices of normalcy which was meals with their more-or-less siblings. That could be an issue. Ema wasn't uncertain of the territory that came with relationships and what amounts to children; though these "children" were teenage wards whom she could respect as Playmaker had defeated her in a duel a couple of times and Blue Angel, well, Blue Angel was just a sweetie Ema genuinely wants to spoil – and not even because it would get her in Akira's good books.

Still, for now, these emotions would grind to a halt and what was essentially a gentlemen's bluff would occur.

Shoichi and Akira, ever ignorant to each other's feelings which were the way with these very emotionally peculiar men, had yet to realise that Ema was receptive to all so they were engaged in a sort of duel of their own: let the best man win.

How absurd.

After all, it's Ema who holds all the cards. And this is a three-way card game that she intends to win.


End file.
